Nigeria Federal Government awards N80b contract for reconstruction of Minno-Baro Port Railway

The 200-kilometre Minna to Baro narrow standard rail line project is on track to begin soon

By Chriselle Moraes on
12th June 2022

The Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) won the contract for the rehabilitation of the Minna - Baro rail line. CCECC provides a wide range of services for the development of civil works worldwide, including project contracting, civil engineering design, real estate development, and import and export trading services. It will involve the reconstruction of the 200-kilometre narrow standard rail line from Minna to Baro in Niger state with an extension to Baro Port. The federal government is expected to fund the project at a cost of N80.6 billion (US$192 million). The narrow-gauge rail line will be laid to allow an upgrade in the future to a standard gauge.  

This new line will help ease the Lagos-Abuja-Kano train journey. Fidet Okhiria, Managing Director of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), met officials of the CCECC in March 2022. He said the project is estimated to be completed within 3 years and the government has vouched to ensure the availability of funds to see the project through to completion. 

“This meeting will enable us to plan our programme schedule to ensure that the contract awarded to rehabilitate the Minna-Baro rail track is carried out according to standard and completed within the stipulated three-year period”, Okhiria said.

Railway system in Nigeria, 2022 (FrankvEck | Wikimedia Commons)
Railway system in Nigeria, 2022 (FrankvEck | Wikimedia Commons)

NRC management confirmed that the railway line would cut across the seven stations of Egba, Katcha, Baro, Lafiagi, Minna, Kateregi and Badegi in Niger State. The construction firm put up a fund mobilization request and construction equipment have already been moved onto the site. The contractor has submitted draft payment guarantee to the Ministry of Finance to mobilise funds for work to start. After confirmation of the document, the company will be granted advance payment to commence work.

Photo: Abuja-Kaduna railway, also constructed by CCECC (@CCECC1 Facebook ID | China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation - CCECC)

Add a comment

ConstructAfrica welcomes lively debate, but will not publish comments that are threatening, libellous or abusive.

Plain text

  • You can align images (data-align="center"), but also videos, blockquotes, and so on.
  • You can caption images (data-caption="Text"), but also videos, blockquotes, and so on.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a href hreflang> <em> <strong> <cite> <blockquote cite> <code> <ul type> <ol type start> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd> <h2 id> <h3 id> <h4 id> <h5 id> <h6 id> <img src alt data-entity-type data-entity-uuid data-align data-caption>